


Little Green-Eyed Monsters

by Cassiopeia12727



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, MSR, Romance, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23046730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassiopeia12727/pseuds/Cassiopeia12727
Summary: Instead of chasing after little green men, Mulder is pursued by little green-eyed monsters.
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 11
Kudos: 42





	Little Green-Eyed Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 28th pilot/Mulder met Scully anniversary (if it's still March 6th for you)! I love the show, I love this fandom, and if this short piece of fluff brightens just one person's day, I'll be a happy camper. I see this story taking place sometime in season 4, anytime before Tempus Fugit, since Pendrell is still around.  
> Disclaimer: Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions own The X-Files and all associated characters. I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story or episodes and movies referenced in it.

Mulder felt restless. Pacing up and down his crammed apartment, he tried to keep his mind off the events that could unfold that night. One minute, he was nervously bouncing his basketball against his table, with little regard for his neighbors, the next he was walking over to his phone, about to pick it up, then stopping himself and walking back to bounce the ball. His mind kept circling around one thought alone: Scully had a date, and it wasn't with him.

He still vividly remembered when she had told him about it that morning. As usual, unable to sleep, he had been in the office early, greeting her when she entered their shared space unusually chipper. On most days, she was very reserved until she had her first cup of coffee leaning against his desk, while listening to his case briefing. At most, he would get a fleeting smile or a smirk at one of his jokes, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her beaming like that so early in the morning. Most of the time, it was all eye rolls and sighs.  
Mulder couldn't help but probe. "I see someone is having a good start to the day," he remarked.  
"Maybe," Scully replied, mysteriously smiling into her coffee paper cup.  
"Is it something in your coffee? If so, I hope you leave me some," he joked.  
Scully took a deep breath and put down her cup. "Well..." she started, "If you must know..."  
Another pregnant pause.  
"I am going on a date tonight." She let the word date linger on her tongue before finishing the sentence, and there was a distinct sparkle in her eyes, as she lifted her coffee cup back to her lips. Although most of her face was hidden, Mulder noticed her blush.  
"A DATE?" Mulder blurted out, much louder than he had intended. "With whom?"  
He had unknowingly started playing with one of the many pencils on his desk, boring the pointy graphite end into one of his fingertips just enough to leave a dull temporary indentation. Scully seemed amused by his reaction. Any other time this questioning might have caused her to raise up her walls in defense, but she was in too good of a mood to consider his inquiries into her dating life nosy.  
"One of the guys from the lab."  
"Who?" The question shot out like a dart aimed at whomever was trying to annihilate Mulder's chances of ever dating Scully himself.  
She waved his question off. "You've never worked with him. He was transferred to DC recently."

Mulder frowned, his forehead furrowed. He could have handled her going on a date with Pendrell, who clearly had a crush on his partner, as much as he might try to cover it up. The guy seemed nice, and, if Mulder was perfectly honest, he didn't think that Pendrell had a chance with Scully. Poor guy, but who could blame him? Now, the other sciencey lab guys were of a different caliber. Mulder couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy whenever Scully was talking shop with them, leaning too close for comfort over some microscope or Petri dish, the guys all smug in their tidy white lab coats, throwing around words that Mulder could only begin to imagine the meaning of. He felt like they were sharing an inside joke, and he wasn't in on it. He had plenty of knowledge to share with her, but she didn't seem half as interested in his fields of expertise. "When are you meeting him?" Mulder's question was a mumble, his voice heavy with resignation.  
Scully raised her eyebrows, as if to say, "Why are you asking this Mulder? Do I not have a right to a life outside of work?"  
There was a brief pause in which she just looked at Mulder silently, contemplating whether she should divulge this nonessential piece of information, then she replied, her eyebrows still raised, "Tonight at 7."  
Mulder had to suppress a scoff when she concluded with the name of the fancy historic restaurant in Georgetown. The guy was really pulling out all the stops and whistles. Mulder would have relied on his charm and humor to win his partner over instead of his wallet. They would have had Chinese food on his couch and told each other childhood stories or shared jokes about their most absurd cases. Mulder didn't realize that he had zoned out, lost in his daydream about the date with Scully that he would probably never have, until said partner asked, "So, what's today's case?"

The rest of the morning and afternoon was all a blur to Mulder. Initially, he had been excited to share the case information with Scully, but, after he had found out about the date, he had lost both interest and focus. While he was giving his partner the rundown, his mind kept going back to what could have been. He tried to tell himself that not all was lost, but it was clear that, after he had been taking it easy and playing it safe for years, waiting for just the right moment to make a move, the competition had not been sleeping. Even if Scully shared his feelings, she was probably tired of waiting by now. What a coward he had been!  
Now 7 p.m. was quickly approaching, and Mulder still didn't have a plan how he could end the date. Should he call her, claiming that there had been some developments in their case that required her immediate attention? Should he drop by and crash the rendezvous by pretending that he had just happened to be in the neighborhood, being so annoying that the guy (Mulder noticed that the mystery date had become "the guy" to him) would just get up and leave? Should he call her and confess his love before it was too late? None of his ideas seemed any good. He didn't want to be a jerk by ruining her plans or make her uncomfortable. Part of the reason was that he just wanted to make her happy... but he also didn't want to ruin his chances with her. He felt that he was the only one who had any shot at truly making her happy, simply because he cared so much that he would do anything for her. But he did have to do something, _anything_ to stop Scully from starting a relationship with "the guy". Sometimes, Mulder's brain worked best when he just acted in the moment, so that was going to be his "plan". He grabbed his coat and ran out the door.

Mulder arrived at the restaurant at around 7:10 p.m.. He still didn't know what to do, although he was leaning more and more towards confessing his feelings. Despite the freezing November temperatures, his palms were getting sweaty. Okay, if he wanted to get the timing right, he had to figure out where they were sitting, where he could hide and observe, and what the best route for approach would be.  
Mulder decided to scope the room from outside first. It turned out that it was good that he had decided to do so because when he got close to the glass of one of the front windows, he spotted Scully almost immediately. If he had waltzed in there, she would have seen him right away.  
Looking as radiant as ever, Scully was sitting at one of the tables close to the front of the restaurant. She was wearing a tight black dress, a rare sight, and her blue eyes were shining in the ambiance lighting. As breathtaking as she looked, sadness was written all over her face, and there was something else that Mulder could see: She was alone. Judging by the expression on her face, it wasn't because, 10 minutes in, she was thinking about how badly the date was going already, while "the guy" was using the restroom. No, the way she tried to distract herself from watching the door by observing the bubbles in her glass, which appeared to contain sparkling water, her date hadn't shown. At least, not yet.  
Mulder's heart was beating through his chest now. Could it be that the odds were, just for once, in his favor? Maybe "the guy" was just running late. Mulder decided to give it another 5 minutes before going in and... doing what? Scully was obviously sad that the date that she had been looking forward to had stood her up, and he would force her to deal with explaining to her lame partner why she wasn't interested in him "that way"? One step at a time. First, he had to wait. Then, he could walk in and try to cheer her up. It was going to be pretty obvious that it was no accident that he saw her sitting all by herself when she was supposed to be on a date, but he was going to deal with that later. If "the guy" showed up at 7:20 p.m. or later, Mulder couldn't be blamed for assuming that the date was canceled and having a little chat with his partner of several years, right?

7:15 p.m. came around, and Mulder, after taking a deep breath, stepped into the restaurant. Scully saw him enter right away. Her face showed surprise but also relief.  
"Mulder!" she greeted him, croaking as if close to tears. Given her reaction upon seeing him, Mulder relaxed a little.  
"Hey, Scully!" he replied gently.  
Scully motioned for him to sit down on the chair on the opposite side of the table.  
"You might as well sit down. I don't think John is going to come," she explained.  
"So, that's his name," Mulder replied, quickly exchanging the word "bastard" with “his” before it slipped out.  
"And he didn't give you a call?" he asked.  
Scully didn't respond and just sighed, rubbing her face with her hands.  
For a few minutes, they were just sitting there, Scully watching the other patrons, Mulder gazing at Scully, wondering where he should take the conversation. Their silences were never awkward, but he wanted to act, now was the time.  
Just as he was about to speak, Scully asked, "So, why did you come here? And don't tell me that you just happened to be in the neighborhood. I remember you asking me specifically about the time and place."  
Mulder swallowed. She saw right through him. Had he really expected anything else?  
"Call me overprotective, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I know, I know, you can look after yourself, but I didn't like the idea of someone asking you out, especially someone whom I don't know."  
Scully smiled and nodded. Her mood seemed to pick up a bit.  
She hesitated briefly before posing the next question, then she said, "You know, it almost seemed as if you were a bit jealous this morning."  
Scully's eyes were twinkling along with her playful smile, and it almost seemed as if she was... flirting? Was that it?  
Mulder grinned sheepishly. "I have a confession to make," he said, causing Scully to raise her eyebrows in anticipation. "This isn't really my kind of place. Let's get out of here. What do you say?"  
Scully seemed disappointed by his response, but only mildly so.  
"My place?" she asked, grabbing her coat.  
"It’s a date! Let's grab some Chinese food on the way."


End file.
